I recently learned that my doctor (my primary-care doctor) is poly-friendly. That was a nice surprise.

I was asking for a full STI panel as you do, because sexual health is important, and I mentioned that I’d previously gotten tested for HSV2 because I was exposed to it. It came up that I had multiple partners, and she asked: “poly?”

“Yes.”

“How many partners do you have in total?”

“Three.”

“Male or female?”

“All female.”

She nodded and we talked a little about what her other poly patients requested from their STI panels. It was handled better than I’d hoped, but then, my doctor is younger (probably in her early 30s, based on something she said during our appointment today) so she doesn’t have the ingrained prejudices against nontraditional relationships that some more-established medical professionals might.

It was refreshing to not have to worry about going on the defensive. And it was way better than the blood draw the lab did afterward — they couldn’t find a vein in my elbow area so they had to poke my inner forearm, which really hurt. But on the bright side, I’ve lost about eight pounds since my last doctor’s visit. Can’t complain.

Oh, who am I kidding; of course I can complain. But I’m not going to. Probably.